With thanks to God and Habitat for Humanity of the N.C. Sandhills, Marilyn Herbin Thursday entered her new home which symbolically arose from the ashes of her old one.

In February 2003, fire consumed her house and possessions.

When her daughter, Amanda, picked her mother up at work to tell her the bad news, “She began to cry, then sob almost uncontrollably as we took the drive from her workplace to this place to access the damage,” she said of the home site.

Herbin is a certified nursing assistant at Hospice of Richmond County.

Amanda said her mother’s reaction eventually was to sing, “Praise your name Lord.”

Later she said she understood her mother’s faith saying she believed her mother’s response brought her to the place of having the new house.

“As I look at this beautiful new home the Lord has given, I am awed to realize we are standing, truly and literally standing, in a manifestation of His Word,” Amanda said.

Citing Romans 8:28 from the Bible, Amanda said, “What the devil meant for bad, He has made good”; and from Romans 61:3, “He has given us joy for our sorrow.”

Using Psalm 126, she said “We are like those who dreamed, and we declare the Lord had done great things for us, and we are glad.”

Besides the 300 hours of “sweat equity” Herbin invested in Humanity working to rebuild her home, she will begin to make payments on the house and the principal will be applied to build other Habitat homes, said Elizabeth Cox, Habitat executive director.

With tears of joy, Herbin expressed gratitude at having been given the opportunity to work for a Habitat house.

She was presented a new Bible from Habitat, a Christian ministry, by Hollie Ivester, Habitat family services; a bluebird house from the Boy Scouts, a quilt from Sandhills Quilters Guild and a gift from Pinehurst United Methodist Church.

The dedication litany, performed by Apostle Reginald J. White and those attending, was written by Amanda for a house “as a place for family living, to share love, laughter and nurture strong family ties.”

The house was dedicated to become, “A symbol of the cooperative goodwill, work and sharing of Habitat for Humanity, friends, family and the citizens of Richmond County.”

It is hoped the house will be an inspiration for the building of more homes in the months ahead and that volunteer work, Christian service and prayer may be all the more earnestly offered by many, the litany said.

Christopher L. Carpenter, newly appointed Richmond County area manager for Habitat of the N.C. Sandhills, said they have opened a Richmond County office in Suite G, 208 E. Franklin St. in Rockingham.

He said they hoped to establish a Habitat store like the one in Moore County in Richmond County. “We plan to grow and work on more homes in Richmond County,” Carpenter said of Habitat. He is a native of the county.

He can be reached at (910)334-1162 or (910)295-1934 or by e-mail at ccarpenter@sandhillshabitat.org.

n Contact reporter Tom MacCallum at 997-3111, ext. 15; e-mail tmaccallum@yourdailyjournal.com.